The project manager’s challenge has always been to combine two distinct areas of competence:
1. The art of project management: effective communications, trust, values, integrity, honesty, sociability, leadership, staff development, flexibility, decision making, perspective, sound business judgment, negotiations, customer relations, problem solving, managing change, managing expectations, training, mentoring, consulting 2. The science of project management: plans, work breakdown struc-
ture (WBS), Gantt charts, standards, CPM/precedence diagrams, controls variance analysis, metrics, methods, earned value, s-curves, risk management, status reporting, resource estimating and leveling Because of the nature of the enterprises that were early adopters of project management (military, utilities, construction industry), the profes- sion “grew up” in an environment with a strong cost accounting view and developed a focus on project planning and controls — an emphasis on the science. This is the kind of project management that we think of as being “traditional” or “classic” project management. However, the reality is that it probably simply represents an early evolutionary stage in the life of the discipline. More recently, project management is being used in nearly all industries and across all functions within those industries.
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Since then, the industry has seen the emergence of countless trends.
Organizations have flattened out, matrixed organizations have taken root, new information technology has allowed people to communicate more effectively and reduce cycle times across all business processes. As a result, management began pushing more projects onto an increasingly complex organization and the project manager suddenly became the “Jack- of-All-Trades” — forced to be everything to everyone. The role of project manager is now very demanding and requires an ever-expanding arsenal of skills, especially “soft” or interpersonal skills.
“New project management” is characterized by a more holistic view of the project that goes beyond planning and controls to encompass business issues, procurement strategy, human resource issues, organiza- tional strategic portfolios, and marketing. The new project management places its focus on leadership and communication rather than a narrow set of technical tools, and advocates the use of the project office to change corporate culture in a more project-oriented direction.
As a result, the role of the project manager has expanded in both directions, becoming both more business and leadership oriented on one hand while growing in technical complexity on the other. The result has been that the title “project manager” today often falls to an individual who is not only poorly prepared for the role, but carries a “kitchen-sink”
job description that ranges from strategic and business responsibilities to paperwork to writing code — the “monster job” we discussed earlier.
However, there is hope. The now-widespread use of the project office means that companies are developing specialized project roles and career paths, defining specific competencies for these roles, and providing “a fork in the road” that allows individuals who are gifted strongly either on the art side of the ledger — as program and project managers and mentors
— to flourish, while allowing those whose skill lies in the science of project management to specialize in roles that provide efficiency in plan- ning and controlling projects. While, on the surface, an enterprise project office might seem to add more bureaucracy, in fact it can simplify project management by making it possible to break out, cluster, and create specialties from the many project management tasks that have up until now often been lumped together into one near-heroic role.
The present challenge lies in defining these two separate paths.
Because the project leader has been found to be one of the most (if not the single most) critical factors in project success, much published research exists on the roles and skills of project managers. Current industry research has found that a deficient project management workforce is one of the leading culprits of failed projects, which can cost companies millions of dollars annually. In fact, Gartner, Inc., reports that poor project manager
Why Project Managers Fail … and How to Help Them Succeed 87
competency accounts for 60 percent of project failures.2 Much effort has therefore been devoted to understand what project managers can and should do to enhance the chances of project success and have found that leadership, communication, and networking skills top the list. Despite the importance of leadership characteristics for project managers, researchers and practitioners observed that project managers in many organizations are seen by senior management as implementers.3 (More work remains to be done in defining and researching the role of the “implementer,” but in the section that follows we will share the analysis of the role that has been done within our own organization.)
Organizations can avoid this problem by determining beforehand who has the best mix of traits and skills to be a superior project manager, or the potential to become one; and by creating career paths for both technical project managers and leadership-oriented project managers so that senior management can fully appreciate the breadth of the roles necessary to the effective management of projects. Technical project managers tend to focus more on process, while business project managers are more concerned with business results. Ideally, a balance between the two is required, as determined by the project type, organization culture, and systems.4 Confusion of roles and responsibilities would be averted if these two very different roles were not both referred to as “project managers,” and this is an important step in developing project-friendly human resource policies.
And there are other roles that can be broken out of the “monster” job description, further streamlining the leadership work of the project man- ager. Many tasks that have long been part of the project management landscape feature elements of administrative work, for example.5 In addi- tion, project managers must be “grown” in the organization through a series of roles that develop the individual in positions of incr easing responsibility. (See Chapter 6 for career pathing information.)
Next, it is important to review your existing project managers in terms of their appropriateness for these roles, confirm your ablest individuals as well as those who have potential. Review the remaining project man- agers against established inventories of skill sets or competencies to identify areas for development, then prepare and implement a develop- ment plan for individuals. To quote Oxford University’s Christopher Sauer,
“It is crucial to demonstrate that the company is willing to invest in enhancing individuals’ competencies. Redeploy unsuitable people in posi- tions where their strengths can be used.”6 We should note that what may be “unsuitable” in a project manager is often exactly suitable to the role of project planner or controller.
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What Makes a Good Project Manager?
He is the best sailor who can steer within fewest points of the wind, and exact a motive power out of the greatest obstacles.7 Nature or nurture? Education or experience? Soft skills or nuts and bolts?
The debate about project manager skills and competencies is well into its third decade. The good thing about a topic that stirs plenty of debate is that there is plenty of research data generated. In a pinch, one can look at lists compiled by a dozen or so organizations, academics, and consultancies to check out where their views on “the good project man- ager” converge. When resources as diverse as software companies, pro- fessional associations, and academic researchers agree on something, one can probably take it to the bank.
What project manager skills, competencies, and characteristics are in this zone of convergence? A modicum of technical or industry knowledge seems to be taken for granted; that is what gets a pr oject manager candidate in the door. After that, the role appears to succeed or fail based on what are variously termed “Organization and People Competencies”
(Assoc. for Project Management, U.K.), “Personal Competencies” (PMI®), or “High Performance Work Practices” (Academy of Management Journal, 1995). PMI’s list of project manager roles (from A Framework for Project Management, PMI, 1999) reads like a soft-skills wish list: decision maker, coach, communication channel, encourager, facilitator, behavior model ….
This last item was explored in research by Dr. Frank Toney of the University of Phoenix, who states that “honesty” trumps education, expe- rience, and even intelligence as a desirable quality in project managers.8 What are the “generally accepted” project manager competencies?
According to research conducted by PM College in conjunction with Caliper, 70 percent of the competencies of a project manager overlap with the competencies of a typical mid-level functional manager in Global 2000 organizations. These competencies can be summarized as follows.
Leadership
Usually characterized by a sense of ownership and mission, a long-term perspective, assertiveness, and a managerial orientation. While manage- ment focuses on systems and structures, short-range goals, and supervision of when and how work gets done, leadership focuses on people and relationships, takes a long-range view, and seeks to communicate why the work is worth doing. Leaders focus on developing people, creatively challenging the system, and inspiring others to act. Project managers are
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often expected to combine the two sets of skills. Areas of competency related to leadership include:
Communication
Written and oral communication, including listening skills, and using all available communication tools, is a critical component of leadership. Many teams are made up of poor communicators who rely on less-than-adequate verbal skills. By understanding the unspoken message — often relayed through nonverbal and visual cues — a project manager can gain more insight into his or her team and develop ways for the members to work together more effectively. Understanding communication differences, and not letting them become a barrier to project success, is key to clearly delegating responsibilities and instructions to the project team. Project managers also must serve as the liaison between the project team and executive team. Skilled project managers know when to speak, when to listen, and how to resolve issues and conflicts in a calm, professional manner.
Negotiation
A related skill, negotiation is a daily feature of the project manager’s life.
Among the issues that must be negotiated with clients, executives, con- tractors, functional managers, and team members are scope, changes, contracts, assignments, resources, personnel issues, and conflict resolution.
Problem-Solving Skills
These include proactive information gathering or strategic inquiry. This goes hand in hand with the “bias for action”: project managers actively seek information that might impact the project instead of waiting for it to surface, and apply that information in creative ways). Project managers must be able to both focus on the details of a problem and see it in the context of the larger organizational or business issues — otherwise known as systemic thinking.
Self-Mastery
Best-practice project managers are able to consider their actions in a variety of situations and critically evaluate their performance. This intro- spective ability enables the great project managers to adjust for mistakes,
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adapt to differences in team personalities, and remold their approaches to maximize team output.
Influencing Ability
This is the ability to influence others’ decisions and opinions through reason and persuasion, the strategic and political awareness and the relationship development skills that are the basis for influence, and the ability to get things done in an organizational context.9
In reviewing other sources of information on competence in leaders and managers, we find additional or related areas that apply to the role of a project manager.
Efficiency
The best project managers work efficiently to complete only what is necessary to deliver projects on time, within budget, and without sacri- ficing quality. They take the fewest possible steps to get things done.
They follow the simplest possible methodologies, standards, procedures, and templates. Along with efficiency come good prioritization and orga- nization skills. Efficient project managers know what to do, when to do it, and in which order to complete tasks. They are the ultimate “task jugglers,” able to shift direction when the situation requires. Many effective project managers rely on collaboration tools to facilitate communications, increase understanding, and finish projects on time. The ability to have two teams on opposite sides of the world look at the same document at the same time while comparing notes can significantly speed the project management process … and ultimately speed a product’s time to market.
Technological Savvy
Knowledge of technology is an important qualification for any good project manager. In today’s multifaceted, global business environment, virtual or Web-based collaboration tools are necessary to bring together project teams that are geographically disbursed and in different time zones.
Effective project managers are able to develop a high-performing project team from resources that are not co-located. They are proficient in project management support tools — not only traditional project scheduling tools, but also e-mail and calendar tools, and virtual meeting tools. And of course, they must have a working familiarity with the technology important to the industry within which they work.
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Project Skills
Successful project managers know that communication, trust, and reliability are key elements to forming a winning project team. However, even with the right personal and professional attributes, the project manager must be knowledgeable in the language and concepts of project management to be successful. The superior project manager displays a high degree of expertise in applying structured project management methodologies and procedures. He or she understands how the methodology of pr oject selection, planning, implementation, and termination are applied to dif- ferent projects in a variety of cultural environments. He or she knows how to apply character, leadership, and management skills to optimize team performance. Finally, the superior project manager knows how to align project goals with corporate strategy.
Personal Attributes
Effective project managers also display certain personal traits that contrib- ute to success. Some that have been identified in the literature include enthusiasm for the project and for project management, tolerance for ambiguity, the ability to manage change, and a talent for building rela- tionships with others, from the project team to customers and vendors.
Here are a few of the most crucial:
Honesty — Project managers are role models for the entire project team.
They must conduct themselves honestly and ethically if they are to instill a sense of confidence, pride, loyalty, and trust throughout their project team. An honest and trustworthy project organization leads to greater efficiency, fewer risks, decreased costs, and improved profitability.
Ambition — Ongoing behavioral studies establish that ambition is an important factor in business goal achievement. Project managers must be careful that their ambition does not make them ruthless or selfish. They must use their determination to accomplish goals for the organization, as a whole, rather than for their own personal gain. It is critical that the project manager understands that he or she is part of the team, not above it, and is responsible for its successes and its failures. A successful project manager leaves his or her own ambition at the door, and concentrates on what is good for the organization. However, achievement orientation, as defined in the ground-breaking work on motivation by David McClel- land, comprises a focus on excellence, results orientation, innovation and initiative, a bias toward action, and is very desirable in project managers.10
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Intelligence — Overall, this enables better job performance and occu- pational success. Nonetheless, while a project manager must be intelligent, he or she does not have to be a genius. The project manager should possess strong analytical skills, good judgment, and strategic thinking capabilities. These qualities are more important to project management achievement than natural intelligence. The respected project manager will acknowledge the limits of his or her knowledge and will know who in the organization possesses the needed knowledge.
Confidence — Leaders who are confident in their decisions are most likely to succeed. The most confident project managers believe that they have full control of their actions and decisions, versus the belief that outcomes are due to luck, fate, or chance. Superior project managers are confident in their decisions, proactive rather than reactive, and assume ownership for their actions and any consequences. All of these qualities stem from self-confidence.
One can see how all these play out in the following list of actions that project managers can take to ensure the successful completion of projects, according to Harold Kerzner:11
Insisting on the right to select the key project team
Negotiating for key team members with proven track records in their fields
Developing commitment and a sense of mission from the outset Seeking sufficient authority from the sponsor
Coordinating and maintaining a good relationship with the client, parent company, and team
Seeking to enhance the public’s opinion of the project
Having key team members assist in decision making and problem solving
Developing realistic budgets, schedules, and performance estimates and goals
Maintaining backup strategies (contingency plans) in anticipation of potential problems
Providing a team structure that is appropriate and yet flexible and flat
Going beyond formal authority to maximize their influence over people and key decisions
Employing a workable set of project planning and control tools Avoiding over-reliance on any one type of control tool
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Stressing the importance of meeting cost, schedule, and perfor- mance goals
Giving priority to achieving the mission or function of the project Keeping changes under control
Seeking ways to assure job security for effective project team members
Emerging Competencies
Having said all that, the definition of the “good project manager” is a moving target. As economic and cultural factors change, the pr oject manager role alters in response. And, the elements of the role have different importance to different people in the organization. To an employer, a “good” project manager is one who brings the project in on time and does not waste any money. To a project team member, it might be more important that the daily environment of the project is not one that careens from crisis to crisis, accompanied by raised voices and slammed doors.
And, as project managers expand into new industries, additional areas of competency will emerge. Recently, field research in biotechnology suggests that good project managers are skilled in “polarity management,”
which Barry Johnson defines as those organizational dilemmas that we must manage rather than resolve once and for all. For example, the skilled manager of a team is aware that she must constantly tack back and forth between focusing on the team’s performance as a whole and on each individual team member’s performance. Were she to focus on one to the exclusion of the other, one would surmise that she was not as effective as she could be. Table 4.1 describes the six “polarities” that project managers must manage.12,13 These polarities provide a look at how the project manager’s role is evolving away from technical, tool-based project management (especially in knowledge-based organizations such as R&D), and toward a broader “art” of leadership. However, that does not mean that the science can be left behind. Equally important are the competencies that many companies are successfully sorting into a new “starring role”:
the project planner.